posted this snapshot detailing how employers' offers of health insurance vary by wage, industry, hours worked, and how a recession changes the game.

celebrated mexico's 200th.immersed in fireworks.ate famous desserts in front of famous buildings..

..freshly made, of course.

adore mexican fashion.stood at attention.lived on street food for a few days.dressed up.blocked the sun.downed a quick snack..

..before the parade.

waved to the girls.missed the memo to build your own periscope. most of these had a 'telescoping' feature, tambien.snapped some photos.shared the view.stood en pointe to glimpse..

golden bazookas

fun. no two ways about it.

yetii

femmes fatales

accompanying airshows

camouflage for colorblind adversaries

checker-shaven horses' asses

would like to tell you why a mexican celebration is as good as any..

revelers unwittingly embolden literacy campaigns

families display reverence for their elders with redi-whip squirt guns

even the street urchins appear well-fed

regal fountains discreetly cloak marbled genetalia

wisps of deliciousness float near semi-broken cotton-candy machines

chicks dig confetti clinging to the scalp

all flags require an army-sized dismantling

a leash and a wrestling mask for your child can be bought at one convenient location

..and street performers garner the attention they deserve.

don't understand everything, but it's beautiful anyways. and hey, they have bikeshare.agree with woody allen that 80% of success in life is just showing up.read the spirit catches you and you fall down, a hipaa-violating story about immigrant cultural conflict with western medicine.

ten-year-old girls have had to translate discussions of whether or not a dying family member should be resuscitated..sometimes not even a child is available..i asked one doctor what he did in such cases. he said, 'practice veterinary medicine.'

if you want to know what a five-minute seizure is like, go stick your head in a bucket of water for five minutes and take some deep breaths.

'parents may be free to become martyrs themselves,' wrote justice robert jackson in a 1943 supreme court decision. 'but it does not follow that they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children.'

consensual reality is better than facts

the hmong have a phrase..which means that the truth will eventually come to light. literally, it means 'feces will be excreted.'

am grateful that the quickest trip from northern somalia to brooklyn includes an ethiopia-dc nonstop, meaning i got to cook emma some sushi before the last leg of her trip home.was stunned to find my coworkers' study featured in the onion.

spent friday, saturday, sunday, monday, and tuesday night in front of this.usually like nate silver, but not right now.9/16

stood in line. had the best crepe ever. in bentonville, arkansas?saw some new and different roadkill..

..and roadside decor.

hit the arkansan blues scene.

took a shortcut or two.

pulled into the carroll county fair. exactly what you'd expect of a northern a.r. county fair, which is to say, amazing.walked across the white river.toured a beautiful mountain cave, reminiscent of gaudi's sagrada familia.